_Damnation_, the second half of Opeth's ambitious twin album project,
is likely to surprise those who expect an entire album of typical
Opeth acoustic bits sewn together. Although there is a fair amount of
variety to be found here, Opeth consistently manage to avoid falling
into said trap. They seem to have approached the making of this
tranquil album from an interesting angle, which becomes apparent right
from the opening chords of excellent opener "Windowpane" and onto the
intriguing yet powerful "In My Time of Need". At this stage the warm
melancholy of the music is nearly mesmerizing, as _Damnation_
captivates the listener in a smooth, almost intimate way. It certainly
doesn't sound anything like some left-over acoustic interludes from
previous albums, or even the product of a band struggling to meet its
promise of a near-acoustic album. Instead, it comes across as honest
and inspired -- the sound of a band comfortably expressing itself in a
different but nonetheless adequate form.

Back to the album, "Death Whispered a Lullaby" may not be as great as
its predecessors during the acoustic sections, but the haunting
distorted guitar work that twice takes the lead achieves a much
increased impact through its contrast with those quieter bits.
"Closure" then goes into a more rhythm based approach that, while
entertaining, seems vaguely out of place in the album. "Hope Leaves"
passes by in a pleasant but not particularly stirring manner, and
introduces "To Rid the Disease": a slowly evolving guitar line and a
memorable chorus weave their way into a fine piano-lead conclusion.
The electric guitar soloing of "Ending Credits" is sorely misplaced
for the most part; not a bad track in itself by any means,
but in spite of boasting a superb passage, a lot of the song is hardly
able to match the overall melancholy of the album. The subdued
"Weakness" finishes the disc in a passable way, which contributes to
the unfortunate fact that _Damnation_ is one of those records that
starts off extremely well but fails to either peak later on or even
stay at the same level. At its best, throughout virtually all of the
early section of the disc and only occasionally in later stages, the
music can be quite wonderful, carrying a deep sense of melancholy and
keeping the listener comfortable through many a rainy day. About
midway through the album interest starts to wane, however, and while
there aren't any bad tracks as such on the disc, _Damnation_ never
quite recaptures the brilliance of its first few songs.

The first half of this project, _Deliverance_, was a very good album
with some cracking moments, but in the wake of classics like _My Arms,
Your Hearse_ and _Blackwater Park_ (not to mention the band's earlier
work), it failed to conquer the crown of Opeth's discography.
_Damnation_, on the other hand, plays in an entirely different league
and cannot be objectively compared to the band's previous work. It
proves Opeth's outstanding quality once again, though it ultimately
falls short of fulfilling all its immense potential. It also lacks a
stronger connection to _Deliverance_ for this dual release to gain
some more meaning beyond the similar packaging and close release
dates, but remains a very worthwhile record in its own right. In
addition to some excellent tracks, _Damnation_ leaves the promise that
Opeth are likely to create another masterpiece next time around: if
only they can put together an hour long album that's as good as the
best thirty minutes from each of these two, then _Blackwater Park_
will be under a very serious threat.